This invention relates to a fabric seat and back for a tubular chair frame. More specifically, the invention relates to a fabric seat and back wherein the length of fabric for the back and seat is adjustable on the frame and the fabric reinforcement web for the seat is adjustable so that the contour of the support surfaces can be readily adjusted to please the occupant and to accommodate occupants of different sizes and shapes.
The prior art includes a number of patents disclosing tubular-framed chairs wherein the seat and back panel is in the form of a single broad strip or sling which is looped at either end, the loops each rounding a cross element of the chair frame. Among the chairs disclosed in the prior art having such structure is the rockable chair of deck or lawn type disclosed in the U.S. Pat. No. 2,675,059 to W. C. Martin issued Apr. 13, 1954.
Chairs of this general type in the prior art have often not been comfortable to occupants, particularly occupants of large or heavy stature in that a disproportionate part of their weight is centered over a seat portion of the broad strip and has caused the seat to sag down so that the forwardmost cross-piece bears upwardly on the underside of the knees. What has been needed in such chairs, particularly of the rockable variety, is means to support the seat portion of the strip so that it may be raised to a height, for instance, above the front cross-piece to support even the heaviest occupant without depressing the seat portion to a level below the front cross-piece. Such a height assures that the occupant is not subject to objectionable pressure on the underside of the knees as a result of the too prominent cross-piece.